On November 28th I'll be spending a night in Minneapolis for a friend's wedding. I'm staying at the commons hotel which appears to be on the UofM campus. I'm only there for the night, leaving around 2pm the next day. I'd like to try stopping at a brew pub or 2 then find a good store to get some beers to bring home. I'm hoping to find a place that has surly and great divide since we don't get those in Wisconsin. Does anyone have any suggestions where I could find those beers in the area I'll be staying and maybe a good brew pub I could stop at that night? Thanks for any suggestions.
Not a brewpub, but you will be close very to Stub & Herbs, so hit that up. I presume you will have a car. Zipp's is not too far either. Brewpubs, I'd just hit up NE minneapolis so you can jump to a few.
Town Hall is not far from your location and is always worth a visit. Plus you have Republic right across the street for an awesome local selection. I'll second the Zipps recommendation for a beer store.
Take the light rail to 7 corners (West Bank UofM). Town Hall Brewing is a must stop. Republic is great as well. Dayblock Brewing is not too far away either.
Others have covered most of this advice, but I’ll add my 2 cents anyway: You’ll be staying about a 2-mile drive (and just a 1-mile walk or a short and cheap light rail train ride) from Town Hall, which most people would call the best brewpub in Minnesota, and which I would rank behind only Surly as the best brewery in Minnesota. That’s your obvious brewpub stop. If you need a second brewpub, Day Block is just a few blocks from Town Hall, although better beer is available if you head to one of the seven taprooms of Northeast Minneapolis, all of which are within 3 or 4 miles of your hotel. I would say Dangerous Man, Indeed, Fair State, and Bauhaus are your best bets among those taprooms, in that order. Republic is across the street from Town Hall, and that’s one of the best beer bars in the state. It has 56 taps, soon expanding to 104 (http://mspmag.com/Blogs/Foodie-File/October-2014/Republic-Uptown-Devotes-ALL-56-Taps-to-Local-Flow/). As for a bottle shop, I too would go with Zipp’s, which is about 1.5 miles from your hotel and has one of the best selections in the state. That said, most stores will carry Surly and Great Divide, and Zipp’s prices are on the high side (although I wouldn’t count on cheap prices or even mediocre selection at a campus-area store).
How much room do you have in your vehicle and/or money to spend? There's a lot of great beer out right now. Stub and Herb's and followed by a light rail trip to Town Hall (and maybe Republic*) would be very easy -- the light rail station is right across from The Commons. Also, local bus route #2 -used to- stop at Zipp's and also connects to the West Bank light rail stop, so if your purchase isn't too big you could use all public transit (theoretically.) *Nomad World Pub, Triple Rock... a couple of good stops over there. There's also the Day Block brewpub and Grumpy's Bar on Washington, and these are not very far from Town Hall.
If you want to cruise to St. Paul the Ale Jail is a good bottle shop and Groveland is a decent tap house just a block away. I've also enjoyed Indeed Brewing, Dangerous Man, and also highly recommend Town Hall. I've also bought beer at Surdyk's which sometimes has some decent finds and always plenty of Surly.
